Chapter 7: Dangerous Discord
Kagami trailed behind the blond werewolf wearily, his thoughts racing. What had gone down in there…it had been magic. He'd had a spell cast on him, forcing him to tell the truth to any question Akashi asked. Kagami didn't think he was overly resistant to magic or anything, but the amount of magic poured into that spell had been so overwhelming as to disturb the whole room. No wonder he'd smelt the sour stench of soul deterioration after it. Akashi was overdoing it.
He fiddled with his chain. Cold metal. Like always. Yet he was so sure it burned him.
His eyes flitted to the windows. If Riko were here, and asking for him, she probably knew he had been caught. And yet she was risking her own name to come find him. Loyalty went both ways, it seemed, and it made Kagami's lips twitch.
"Kagami Taiga, right?"
Kagami's ears perked, his crimson eyes meeting golden. "Y-yeah. Kise, right?"
Kise grinned, slowing his pace so that he came up beside Kagami. "I haven't seen you around. How are you finding your new pack? Aida-san being a good Alpha?"
"Well, I only met her once," Kagami ruffled his hair sheepishly. "But yeah, I think I can trust her."
"Don't they all," Kise whispered, but changed his serious expression quickly into a smile. They came up to the main entrance, where two familiar figures were hanging by the door. "Anyway, here they are, I'll just leave you to it…"
"Oi, Kise-kun," Riko had her hands on her hips, and her teeth bared in a growl. "Where's Akashi?"
Kise's ears flattened and his eye twitched. "He'll be here shortly."
"Kagami-kun, I see you got yourself caught," Riko rolled her eyes. "Just as Kuroko-kun thought."
Kuroko nodded at Kagami.
Kagami flushed in embarrassment. "Sorry…"
"No, it's my fault for sending you on such a difficult task first thing. You probably haven't even gotten enough sleep yet," Riko sighed, walking up to him and patting his back. "This is my mess as much as it is yours, maybe more so. Once Akashi is here, I'll sort it out with him."
"You shouldn't have made the mess in the first place," Kise mumbled.
Riko shot him a glare. "Huh? Is there a problem, Kise-kun?"
Kise's lips pulled up in a forced grin. "Of course not. You've clearly proved yourself, Alpha. I just think you should have better control over your subordinates. Or maybe act honourably, and not stain the werewolf reputation."
Riko scowled. "Right, because you know all about good reputation, don't you, pureblood? You're born with that silver spoon up your ass."
Kagami looked between the two. "Hey, what's wrong…?"
Kuroko placed a hand on his shoulder. "Kise-kun believes that only purebloods should be pack Alphas."
"You know I'm right, Kurokocchi, but you still won't leave her pack," Kise frowned. "We age slower, live longer. We have more experience. We are stronger. We have more time to make the pack better. We can actually turn into wolves, we…we aren't some…"
"Some what?" Riko sneered. "Halfie? Not a true werewolf? So what, we can't be leaders? We can't get the same rights?"
Kise fidgeted uncomfortably. "I don't mean it that way, I just want what's best for the pack-"
"My father was a fine Alpha, and I'll be just as damn good, pureblood or not," Riko huffed.
"Silence."
They looked over to where Akashi was walking up to them. Kagami's eyes narrowed. Akashi's skin looked much healthier, and his posture was straight and strong. The smell from earlier was no longer coming off him.
Kagami felt slightly uneasy, but stayed quiet.
"I thought we solved this matter years ago," Akashi snapped at Kise and Riko. "Kise, Aida is Alpha of the Seirin area pack, and Kuroko joined her of his own free will," Akashi sighed as though he had repeated this countless times. "You'll have to deal with the fact that she's not pureblood. Now scram, I'm sure you left Kasamatsu to deal with your lot. Maybe you should start acting like the Alpha you are."
Kise's ears drooped and he bowed his head, nodding. "Bye Kurokocchi," he waved, throwing a smile at Kagami but ignoring Riko on his way out.
"What was that…?" Kagami whispered to Kuroko.
"We say vampires are our enemies, but we seem to have plenty of discord amongst ourselves," Kuroko shrugged, but his words were heavy.
"Now, Aida…" Akashi turned to her. "I thought Kagami's one of yours. You were always one to charge straight ahead without a care in the world."
"It was wrong of me, I know," Riko pursed her lips. "But you know how I feel about these personalised meetings. If there's something happening, we all deserve to know about it." She paused, before adding: "I saw it. Outside the gates. They've moved the body, but I saw the blood. The stench is still in the air. It's vampire, isn't it?"
Akashi gazed at her silently before nodding. "Yes. Last night. Perhaps it was wrong of me not to invite you, since this death has a lot more to do with you than you'd like.
Riko's tail flicked agitatedly. "What do you mean?"
"Midorima is still working with the evidence, but one thing is certain," Akashi's eyes never left hers. "The killer was a werewolf."
"Not mine," she said instantly, shaking her head. "My pack would never do such a thing."
"It could be any werewolf," Akashi folded his arms. "But for now, we need every werewolf to stay in Tokyo. Kagami Taiga, you said your flight landed at ten, didn't it?"
"Yeah," Kagami answered carefully.
"Time of death was around midnight. Where were you then?"
Kagami gaped at him. "Y-you can't be serious, right?"
Akashi waited.
Kagami grit his teeth. "I was sleeping. On a bench. And then I met some vampires…Aomine!" he snapped his fingers. "I met Aomine! He can vouch for me! I didn't kill anyone!"
"Calm down, Kagami-kun, I doubt you could hurt a fly," Riko snapped, glaring at Akashi. "Can you stop accusing everyone?"
"I have to conduct a thorough investigation," Akashi's eyes flashed. "This is bad, Aida. The victim…she was an Aomine recruit."
Riko's face drained. "What?"
"The Aomine family are the country's top werewolf hunters," Kuroko said quietly into Kagami's ear.
Kagami turned away. "Akashi...hinted it. Told me to stay away."
"Not bad advice," Kuroko nodded slightly. "Aomine-kun and I…we used to be friends. But, well, we have different roles to play in this world. Sometimes, we have to stay with our own."
Akashi pinched his nose. "We are two months away from the Blood Moon Festival. I don't want a repeat of what happened when my grandfather oversaw it last time. This is the absolute worst time for this to be happening."
"Or the best time. If they want to start something. Shit," Riko hissed. "An Aomine?"
"She was a recruit, not yet inducted into the family. She didn't have a crest yet," Akashi elaborated. "But that makes this act very close to…starting something none of us want."
Aomine was resting his head against the cold glass of the window, his navy gaze following the trio of werewolves as they walked out of the main gates and out of sight.
Kagami Taiga.
He closed his eyes. He'd had a werewolf friend once, a best friend. Kuroko. And then his father had told him to break off the friendship. As a werewolf hunter, he couldn't have werewolf friends. Nothing to compromise him, nothing to make him hesitate on the job. Nothing to give him any emotional attachment.
A rabid werewolf was a mad dog that had to be put down. And every werewolf was a dog that could go mad.
He breathed in deeply, subconsciously wishing he could smell that vanilla, taste that sweetness on his lips. Drink the blood that ran under tanned skin.
His insides twisted. He…he wanted…he wanted to…
"Aomine."
Aomine jerked out of his reverie, rubbing his face. What am I thinking? Werewolf blood is poisonous. Maybe I'm just thirsty. But I just drank. He turned around to see Akashi leaning against the window next to him. "Hey."
Akashi stepped closer. "I need to see your crest."
Aomine raised a brow. "Why-?"
"Now," Akashi's eyes flashed gold.
Aomine was unbuttoning his shirt before he even realised what he was doing. He opened it so that the tattoo that stained the skin above his vampire heart was visible in the morning light.
The Aomine family crest was black against his dark skin, a shield the size of his fist surrounded with curled dragon wings and topped with a snake baring its fangs. Unreadable words were inscribed within. It was bestowed by any sorcerer, a spellbound sign that protected every Aomine from having a normal wooden stake driven through their heart, like a magical barrier. It was a necessary precaution for werewolf hunters, given how fast and vicious lycanthropes could be.
He flinched when Akashi's cold fingers touched it. "Hey, what are you-?" he gasped as his head started spinning, and his skin burned where the crest was inscribed.
Silver light through leaves.
Darkness, full moon.
Running, running away. Someone chasing him.
"RUN! NO! RUN, DAIKI!"
He gasped, pulling away and panting as he tried to catch his breath. "W-what the fuck, Akashi!" he yelled, his head throbbing. Those images…memories…? No…no…they were fleeting, and he couldn't remember what he saw anymore. He looked up at Akashi, whose lips were pressed in a thin line. "Akashi?"
"Looks like my suspicions were right," Akashi mumbled under his breath.
Aomine tilted his head. "What?"
"The spell still works," Akashi said simply. "Tell me, Daiki, what is Kagami Taiga to you?
Aomine blinked at the sudden topic change, buttoning up his shirt and trying to calm his heartbeat. Daiki? That's new. "Uh, what do you mean?"
"You met him today, didn't you?"
"Yeah," Aomine scrunched his nose.
"Well, you seemed quite friendly with him," Akashi said dryly.
Aomine scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"What it sounds like," Akashi turned around and started walking away. "Well, you don't need me to tell you how your father feels about you having werewolf connections," he added over his shoulder.
Aomine straightened his collar, glaring at Akashi's back. There was something different about the man, his behaviour. Aomine rubbed his head. He needed a nap.
"Get some sleep," Riko told Kagami when they reached their lodgings. "I have some things to take care of myself."
"Just one thing…" Kagami grabbed Riko's shoulder. "With Akashi…how long has he been that way?"
Riko looked at him curiously. "What way?"
"His soul is deteriorating," Kagami said as though it was an obvious observation. "I smelt it on him. He looks young, so I was wondering how it could have started so soon."
He knew a few sorcerers. With their power came a price. Every spell they used, they needed energy to cast it. And that energy would come from their own life essence.
As a sorcerer became older, they would wither away. Lose simple bodily functions, become weaker and weaker until they would finally die. Some refused to use their powers because of the fact. Others used them sparingly.
Kagami had rarely seen someone so young so far gone as Akashi.
Of course, there was her, but Kagami didn't like remembering that.
"Really?" Riko looked confused. "He's fine, isn't he?"
Kuroko cocked his head. "Every time we've seen him, he's been fine. He's too young to get soul sick."
Riko crossed her arms. "Akashi doesn't use his powers generously. He's very conservative. When did you smell it on him? He was in top shape when we met him."
"Back when…" Kagami hesitated. "He used his magic." But they were right. Akashi was fine afterwards, and deterioration didn't just disappear. Maybe he had gotten confused. Even Akashi had refused the notion when Kagami had confronted him. "No, never mind, I'm probably imagining it."
Riko grunted. "Right, well, if that's it-"
"What's the Blood Moon Festival?" Kagami blurted. At curious looks from the other two, he ducked his head. "I've heard of it. I just don't know why it's so important. Actually…I'm here because of it. I'm here in Japan because I want to attend it."
"You came to the other side of the world for something you don't even know?" Riko snorted. "People have done more for less, I guess," she shrugged.
"It's just a way to celebrate the bond between werewolves and vampires," Kuroko explained. "The purebloods of both sides will gather as well. Kind of like peace talks, so hearing of a pureblood vampire's death caused by a werewolf so close to it is a bit worrying."
"And it's a blood moon that day," Riko looked up at the sky, as though visualising it there. "In two months, the blood moon will appear. A full moon that gives werewolves power, and the moon's blood colour will also energize the vampires. A night where both are of equal strength."
A time when the most powerful will be their most powerful.
A time when the strongest werewolves and vampires will be in the same place, at the same time.
Riko grimaced, unease settling in the pit of her stomach.
The Blood Moon Festival. A perfect field to start a war.
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